


A messy balcony and an empty one

by orphan_account



Category: Naruto
Genre: Alternate Universe - Neighbors, M/M, Neighbors
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-29
Updated: 2019-07-29
Packaged: 2020-07-25 13:56:11
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 810
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20026921
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: He likes loud music and colorful t-shirts and goes to sleep too late at night. His fingers and clothes are often covered in white stains. Suddenly, Obito can't keep his cute new neighbor out of his mind.





	A messy balcony and an empty one

Obito's routine was never too hectic. Sometimes he wakes up when the alarm goes off at seven o'clock. Sometimes he stays five minutes more, and sometimes twenty. Sometimes he's awake by that time, when stress induced insomnia kicks in.

He has a big breakfast, or only coffee, or nothing at all (his fault, for oversleeping). Sometimes he uses his car to go to work, sometimes he gets the public transport or jogs. Rin and Kakashi often tell him that his life is a mess. Obito disagrees. It's just a bit all over the place, but not a mess. He refuses to live a groundhog day, and so he brings a random present for a colleague one day, or spends ten minutes having a casual chat with a customer over the phone, or stays five extra minutes on his break. His cravings for variation hate schedules.

One day, Obito wakes up to something unexpected. Next door's balcony, has been painted. It used to be white like all the other balconies from all the other apartments in the block, but now is navy blue with splashes of white paint all over, like tiny stars. It happened overnight and he hasn't heard or noticed anything weird until now. That can only mean one thing, someone has moved next to him, to the apartment that had been empty for months.

Obito breathes the faint smell of wet paint while he wonders who's his new neighbor. A cute girl, if luck is on his side. He grabs the railing with both hands and tries to peek through their window. He doesn't see much, someone passing by behind a translucent curtain, and there's people chatting. Then he has to go, before someone catches him red handed spying on them.

There's a few new items in the balcony when he comes from work. A table and a small bench with some cushions on it, some clay sculptures (mostly insects and spiders), a dream catcher and an incense holder. The blinds are shut and no one seems to be at home. Obito keeps checking while he makes dinner and the sun sinks behind the tall buildings. A bit after nine o'clock, he hears someone opening the elevator door, then a clink of keys and a door being open and shut. Obito rushes to the balcony and sees there's light coming from the living room.

Perhaps he should go and introduce himself, but discovering who they are little by little sounds like fun. He takes a look at his own balcony. There are a couple of dead plants, a plant pot full of weeds and dandelions, an old rusty bicycle and a single hammock he never uses. He notices he cares about the opinión of his new neighbor. They must be thinking he's a hoarder.

That same night, he sneaks out of the building to say goodbye to all the junk he's been chucking in the balcony. Then he polishes the railings and mops the floor.

On Saturday, he wakes up to the sound of some indie band. Obito doesn't mind, he likes it anyway. After pouring some orange juice, he moves the curtain to the balcony. His neighbor is there, topless and barefoot, arms on the railing. He's young and has blonde long hair. Obito's glass slips from his hands and crashes against the floor. It makes a mess and a big racket. He jumps back right when the cute guy turns his head and hopes he hasn't seen him making a fool of himself.

He doesn't clean the mess until he's back from his shopping trip bringing some geraniums with him. It looks half decent now, Obito smiles.

When his neighbor is in a bad mood, he bangs doors and plays music louder than usual. Obito wonders why is he upset and if there's something he could do to cheer him up. It doesn't feel right, to look at the clothes he hangs from the railings. Sometimes there's clay in them. Sometimes, the guy himself is covered in clay, and Obito daydreams about a chat about art.

Two weeks later, on a Sunday evening, they finally speak. Obito goes out to find him there, staring at the colors of the dusk. Black silhouettes of palm trees and buildings against the orange sky.

"Good evening," he says, and gives him his best smile that covers how nervous he feels.

"Yo."

Curious blue eyes stare at him. He takes a deep breath.

"My name is Obito," come on, Obito, don't be boring, he thinks. "I like your... Everything. Wait. I mean. Your sculptures. I see them when you leave them here to dry. You're very talented."

He giggles.

"Thank you. You're strange."

"Sorry," his body tensed.

"Nah. I like that," Obito relexed again. "I'm Deidara."

"Nice to meet you, Deidara. Welcome to the neighborhood."

And welcome to my life.


End file.
